Classical Sources and the Feminine Imaginary in the Epístola a Belardo of Amarilis and the Discurso en loor de la poesía of Clarinda

Abstract

This work deals with two poems, published in the XVII century, in Latin American colonies, specifically in the  Peruvian viceroyalty, and supposed to be written by two different women, whose pseudonyms hide an unclear reality, but fully linked to the lyrical tradition of that moment: the italianizing poetry. In that tradition, the erudition showed by Amarilis and Clarinda is full of classicism and in accordance with the prevailing male thinking. Nonetheless, both women achieve to create a feminine identity through their skilled use of traditional rhetoric.